The professional way in which Maximiliano Vazquez and his
partner, Mr. Livrehomme interact with each other and with their customers
reflects how seriously they take their jobs. They treat their professions
as horologists not as an opportunity to make money as they can easily overcharge
at will, but rather as a way to do something for which they have a passion.
Time is an important factor for virtually each character in the story, and
everyone seems to have a valid reason for being rushed.

1) Do you agree that those who buy
stolen property are more corrupt than thieves (par. 9)?

2) What is the effect of listing
each day of the week throughout the story?

3) How does the manner in which
Vazquez and Livrehomme approach their jobs reflect the way they approach life?

4) Besides their ethnic
backgrounds, what similarities exist between Vazquez and Garcia?

Unlike the U.S., where wrestlers are known by their
outrageous characters, wrestlers in Mexico wear colorful, unique masks and hide
their faces. El Santo, one of the most famous Mexican wrestlers ever,
was able to keep himself masked inside and outside the ring until after his
retirement. Fulgencio Llanos’ photograph of him is undoubtedly very unique and
would yield him a lucrative amount of money.

1)Would you be more or less paranoid if you were in Llanos’ circumstances?

2)Ultimately, who is unmasked in this story?

3)Would you accept a ride from someone like Jim?

4) If Fulgencio were the one
offering a ride, would you accept it? Why or why not?

While the stereotypical image of an Avon lady is someone
who has wonderful skin and is physically attractive, this story presents the
opposite image. The narrator is overweight and looks manly. She has a poor
relationship with her obnoxious brother and her uncle seems to be the only
relative who cares for her, but even he has his limits. In a culture where
Machismo thrives and expectations of women’s appearances and behavior can be
very narrow, the main character has many challenges ahead of her. The reference
to West Side Story (par. 151) is to the song, “America,” in which Anita
sings idyllic praises about wanting to be in America. Amalia’s version is
inaccurate in that the real lyrics state the character wants to be in America, not
that she wants to be American.

1)Do you associate certain professions with specific ethnic backgrounds?
If so, which ones?

2)What does the end mean?

3)Do you think Uncle Enrique should provide the main character with more
help? Why or why not?

This story is about a film professor at a university in New
York and his student, Sebastian, who drops out and disappears for sometime. The
professor thinks of Sebastian as amusing and unsettling (par. 2), as he behaves
inappropriately yet is clearly a genius. Sebastian, who is gay, and has an
unhealthy relationship with his parents, becomes homeless, and he and his demise
become a mystery that the professor needs to solve.

1)In what ways is the city a factor in Sebastian’s demise?

2)Would you define Sebastian first and foremost as an artist? Why or why
not?

3)What does Sebastian’s documentary indicate about him?

4)
What do you think is the primary role of a documentary filmmaker? Does Sebastian
accomplish that?

In November 1999 Elián Gonzalez captured the attention of
the world and became the center of debate among Cubans, Cuban Americans, and
those who were filled with pro-Castro and anti-Cantro sentiments. A Cuban
refugee ship carrying him and his mother sank on its way to the U.S. She
drowned, but he was rescued by fishermen. The Coast Guard's description of
events is as follows:

Elian Gonzalez, a 5-year old Cuban
boy, was found on Thanksgiving morning clinging to an inner tube three miles off
the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was among three survivors of a
boating catastrophe which killed 11 migrants fleeing Cuba. The Coast Guard
searched from Islamorada to Boca Raton, using a HU-25 and a HH-65 from Air
Station Miami, a HC-130 from Air Station Clearwater, the CGC Maui, and a
41-foot UTB from Station Fort Lauderdale. The child later gained international
notoriety when his father, a Cuban citizen, attempted to have him returned to
Cuba, a desire that Elian's relatives in the U.S. fought through the U.S. court
system all the way to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled in his father's favor
and the child was returned to Cuba.

In the end, U.S. authorities took Elián away from his relatives by force
and returned him to his father in Cuba, where he currently lives and continues
to be a political symbol. The events still resonate with Cuban Americans (such
as the main character in the story) who are haunted by media images of Elián
being taken away from his Florida relatives and returned to Cuba.

1)Do you agree with the main character’s opinions on language? Why or why
not?

2)In what ways does the story have a happy ending?

3)Compare he ways she is treated by strangers with the way her family
treats her.

Achy Obejas: “We Came All the Way From Cuba So You Could
Dress Like This?”

Unfortunately, the lives of Cuban Americans and all
immigrants, for that matter, can often be somewhat predictable. The ideals
of parents with strong roots in their respective countries often clash with
those of their children, whom they view as “too Americanized.” The narrator’s
sexual orientation, her desire to return to Cuba, and the way she dresses, pit
her against her parents. Meanwhile, her parents’ lives can be said to be
somewhat predictable as well, as they struggle to build new lives and make a
living in the U.S.

1)The father classifies people into Communists or non-Communists. In what
similar ways are people in the U.S. classified?

2)Why are the parents so persistent that the narrator not go back to Cuba?
Do you agree with them?

3)How would you characterize the narrator’s relationship with her parents?
Why?

This story provides a dark psychological portrait of a
woman (the narrator) and her elderly godmother who is nearing the end of her
life. As the author provides more and more details about the godmother, the
reader also learns important details about the narrator. Ultimately, the
reader gets a clear sense of how the ailing health of a loved one can affect
those who care for them. In Latino cultures convalescent homes are not seen as
viable options, and for the narrator in this story, this holds true, for better
or worse.

1)
Do you agree with the godmother's assessment that "you wait your whole file .
You save. And then you die" (par. 97)?

2)
In what ways is the description of the falling woman at the story's beginning an
apt metaphor for what takes place in the story?

3)
What do the last three sentences of the story mean?

4)
What is the significance of the story being broken up into sections?

This story describes the relationship between a couple,
Olivia and Jonathan, and the events that lead to their breakup. Their
marriage is full of lies, and ultimately the reader has to be the judge of these
lies--and determine which lies are justified "white" ones and which are not.
For Olivia, choices about her life have not been based simply on what she,
herself, has wanted, and this adds to the complexity and intrigue of the story.

1)
Why does Olivia marry Jonathan?

2)
What does it mean for the sun to "obliterate the night"?

3)
Before marrying Jonathan, what would you say is Olivia's turning point in her
life?

This poem offers inspirational advice and plays with
language in a creative way. It is an ideal introductory poem for the Beyond
Worlds chapter in Latino Boom in part because the works in this part of
the book challenge expectations of what might be deemed “Latino literature.”

1)Do you agree with Algarín’s advice that we should avoid a void? Why or
why not?

2)Try drawing parts of the poem as you make sense of it. Does it resemble
the flight of a bee? Why or why not?

This poem is a tribute to
women and defies the stereotypical image of women. The notion of a women
being like roses has been popularized in songs and poems such as Robert Browning’s
“Women and Roses,” below.

Women and Roses

By Robert Browning

I.

I dream of a red-rose tree.

And which of its roses three

Is the dearest rose to me?

II.

Round and round, like a dance of snow

In a dazzling drift, as its guardians, go

Floating the women faded for ages,

Sculptured in stone, on the poet's pages.

Then follow women fresh and gay,

Living and loving and loved to-day.

Last, in the rear, flee the multitude of maidens,

Beauties yet unborn. And all, to one cadence,

They circle their rose on my rose tree.

III.

Dear rose, thy term is reached,

Thy leaf hangs loose and bleached:

Bees pass it unimpeached.

IV.

Stay then, stoop, since I cannot climb,

You, great shapes of the antique time!

How shall I fix you, fire you, freeze you,

Break my heart at your feet to please you?

Oh, to possess and be possessed!

Hearts that beat 'neath each pallid breast!

Once but of love, the poesy, the passion,

Drink but once and die!---In vain, the same fashion,

They circle their rose on my rose tree.

V.

Dear rose, thy joy's undimmed,

Thy cup is ruby-rimmed,

Thy cup's heart nectar-brimmed.

VI.

Deep, as drops from a statue's plinth

The bee sucked in by the hyacinth,

So will I bury me while burning,

Quench like him at a plunge my yearning,

Eyes in your eyes, lips on your lips!

Fold me fast where the cincture slips,

Prison all my soul in eternities of pleasure,

Girdle me for once! But no---the old measure,

They circle their rose on my rose tree.

VII.

Dear rose without a thorn,

Thy bud's the babe unborn:

First streak of a new morn.

VIII.

Wings, lend wings for the cold, the clear!

What is far conquers what is near.

Roses will bloom nor want beholders,

Sprung from the dust where our flesh moulders.

What shall arrive with the cycle's change?

A novel grace and a beauty strange.

I will make an Eve, be the artist that began her,

Shaped her to his mind!---Alas! in like manner

They circle their rose
on my rose tree.

1)Who is “she” in Castillo’s poem?

2)If you were to write a poem about men, what would its title be? Why?

The Samba, Rumba, Cha-Cha,
Be-Bop, and Hip-Hop are all types of dances. The Samba and Rumba have their
origins in African culture and were popularized in Cuba and later, in the early
part of the 20th century, in the U.S. The Cha-Cha is a variation of
the Rumba. Like them, Be-Bop and Hip-Hop are known for their fast and
dynamic beats. The poem is dedicated to Merian Soto, currently Associate
Professor and MFA Program Coordinator at Temple University, who co-founded
Pepatián, an arts organization in Bronx, New York, that has made tremendous
contributions and provided opportunities to aspiring artists.

The origin of the word “gringo,” which is used to refer to
non-Latino foreigners (and usually to Anglos) is not known. One theory is that
its use came about because of a popular song in the 1800s that included the
words “green grows” and Mexicans associated the term with the people who sang
it. As this poem indicates, one thing is for certain—the term is often used in
a derogatory manner, including sarcastically by Latinos to criticize other Latinos.

1)In which cases do intellectuals use language in the way that is
criticized in the poem?

2)How might the “north american intellectuals” (1) respond to this poem?

3)In what ways does the poem gain momentum as it gets to the last stanza?

Caliban (7) is a half-man, half-monster from Shakespeare’s
The Tempest. He is a central figure in Colonial studies. He is
enslaved by Prospero, whose knowledge, books, and magic, give him power over
Caliban. Caliban plots to kill Prospero and steal his books. The following
famous lines reflect Caliban’s prespective on what Prospero has taught him:

Caliban: You taught me language; and my profit on't

Is, I know how to curse. The red plague rid you

For learning me your language! (I, ii, 517-519)

1) Based on the
lines above, in what ways is Marzán’s allusion is appropriate?

2) What do lines 8-9
in "The Pure Preposition" mean?

3) Do you think that what the poem says about prepositions can only be said
about prepositions and not other parts of speech? Why or why not?

The types of writers that
Tia Annie brings up in this poem are not the kind which her
niece aspires to. However, they are all that the aunt knows about; not
surprisingly, she cannot give her niece helpful advice, nor can she be
supportive. The Brown Berets (55) were a group of Chicanos who, like the
Black Panthers, were inspired to social action by the various human rights
issues that led to the Civil Rights Movement.

1)Do you think Tia Annie is educated? Why or why not?

2)Do you think that in order to write about the experiences to which Tia
Annie refers, one has to first live that experience?

3)What is the significance of Tia Annie watching the soap opera, As the
World Turns (69)?

This poem describes the
poet's visit to the Diego Rivera Studio in San Angel, Mexico. Rivera was a
famous Mexican artist known for his political and socially conscious murals.
Frida Kahlo, another famous Mexican painter was known for her self-portraits
that displayed her internal suffering at many stages of her life. As the
poet describes the visit to the studio, he brings touches of their works to
life.

1) Beyond the artists' fame, why else is the poet so affected by his
visit?

2) Based on the descriptions in the poem, what type of lifestyle did Kahlo
and Rivera have?

This poem is a Latinized
version of William Carlos Williams' oft-anthologized poem, "This is Just to
Say." Williams was one of the United States' prominent poets during the
early and middle part of the twentieth century. Although Williams' Puerto
Rican ancestry was not well known until relatively later in the twentieth
century, even now a debate exists as to whether he should be considered a Latino
poet.

This is Just to Say
by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

1)
Write your own variation on this poem based on your ethnic background.

2) Do
you think the poet is truly resentful for having eaten the tamales?

3) Why
do you think the poet chose to write three words, tamales, perdoname, and
riquisimos, specifically in Spanish?

Tino Villanueva: “Scene from the Movie Giant”The movie Giant was the first major motion picture to confront
racism against Mexican Americans in the U.S. With a cast that featured
Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Dennis Hopper, and James Dean in what would turn
out to be his last film, Giant inspired Villanueva’s American Award
Winning book of the same title. This poem refers to a scene toward the
latter stages in the movie.

1)Do you recall the first film you saw in which racism was portrayed? Did
you have a reaction similar to the poet’s?

The Holocaust Museum
in Washington D.C. opened in 1993.
Obviously, a visit to the museum can be a touching moment for anybody, as it was
for the poet. According
to its web site, the museum's mission is as follows:

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is
America’s national institution for the documentation, study, and interpretation
of Holocaust history, and serves as this country’s memorial to the millions of
people murdered during the Holocaust.

The Holocaust was the state-sponsored, systematic persecution and annihilation
of European Jewry by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945.
Jews were the primary victims – six million were murdered; Gypsies, the
handicapped and Poles were also targeted for destruction or decimation for
racial, ethnic, or national reasons. Millions more, including homosexuals,
Jehovah’s Witnesses, Soviet prisoners of war and political dissidents, also
suffered grievous oppression and death under Nazi tyranny.

The Museum’s primary mission is to advance and disseminate knowledge about this
unprecedented tragedy; to preserve the memory of those who suffered; and to
encourage its visitors to reflect upon the moral and spiritual questions raised
by the events of the Holocaust as well as their own responsibilities as citizens
of a democracy.

Chartered by a unanimous Act of Congress in 1980 and located adjacent to the
National Mall in Washington, DC, the Museum strives to broaden public
understanding of the history of the Holocaust through multifaceted programs:
exhibitions; research and publication; collecting and preserving material
evidence, art and artifacts relating to the Holocaust; annual Holocaust
commemorations known as Days of Remembrance; distribution of educational
materials and teacher resources; and a variety of public programming designed to
enhance understanding of the Holocaust and related issues, including those of
contemporary significance.

1) What is the significance of the last line?

2) Why does the poet refer to himself as a "nobody" (87)

3) In what ways is the way the poem is organized into three sections
significant?